Rajasthan assembly passes contentious bill that permits registration of child marriages

New Delhi: Rajasthan's opposition party BJP argued on Friday that the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages (Amendment) Bill, 2021, passed in the state assembly by voice vote to alter a 2009 Act on mandatory registration of marriages within 30 days of the union, will legitimise child marriages.

The BJP staged a walkout alleging that the amendment is giving an opportunity to register child marriages. However, the parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal defended the Bill saying that registration of child marriage is not the same as validating it, reported The Wire.

The amended bill does mention child marriages and states that a marriage between a bridegroom under the age of 12 and a bride under the age of 18 can be registered by parents or guardians.

Dhariwal argued that registering child marriages was not intended to legitimise them and stressed that if a kid is married, he or she will have the ability to dissolve the marriage once he or she becomes an adult. He also assured that action will be taken against anyone who organises child marriages.

He noted that the goal of the amendment is not to legitimise child marriage but to give the minor an opportunity to annul the marriage. Dhariwal added that without the legal document, widows will not be able to get the benefits of many schemes.

BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria said that section 8 of the new Bill has violated the law against child marriages and. Another BJP leader asked: "If child marriage is banned, then how can they include child marriage under this Bill? All this is done by Congress for vote bank politics," reported ANI.

Dhariwal clarified that the Bill doesn't' say child marriage is valid and the amendment is not in contradiction to the central law. He added that the district collection can take action against child marriage if he or she wants.

The registration has to be done at the level of the District Marriage Registration Officer as well as Additional District Marriage Registration Officer and Block Marriage Registration Officer level. The minister said that it will bring simplicity and transparency to work since the officers willRajasthan's Amended Marriage Registration Bill Includes 'Registration of Child Marriages' monitor and review the work of registration.